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Nail attack in Bushmills: Community shocked by ‘horrific’ attack in car park

Theo

image description, The PSNI said a man suffered potentially life-changing injuries after being nailed to a fence

People in a County Antrim town have expressed shock at an “absolutely horrific” attack in which a man’s hands were nailed to a fence.

A nail was driven through each hand.

Police described the attack as “ultra-violent” while a local MP said it was “barbaric”.

Anne McIlroy, from Portballintrae, who was shopping in the town on Tuesday, said “no one deserves this” and added it was “a very cruel thing”.

“I was shocked, this is a beautiful village we have and this is not necessary,” she added.

image description, Anne McIlroy, from Portballintrae, expressed her disgust at the attack

Police said paramilitary involvement was a key focus of the investigation.

Two vans, one of which belonged to the injured man, were found ablaze in the car park near Dundarave Park.

Graffiti on nearby public toilets has been linked to the assault and arson.

Earlier on Tuesday, TUV chief Jim Allister said those responsible for the attack intended to “impress their terror on the area.”

Mr Allister, an MP for the region, said it was “barbaric”.

“The lawful authorities are the people who deal with reported crimes and now I trust that the lawful authorities will hunt down those who did this to this person and to the community,” he told Good Morning Ulster ” by BBC Radio Ulster.

image description, Two vans were found burning in the car park near Dundarave Park in Bushmills

“It wasn’t just him, it was the whole community.”

Mr Allister said the attack appeared to have “the hallmarks of paramilitarism”.

“The people of Bushmills, like everywhere else, are effective and committed to abiding by the law, they want to live their lives in peace and they want to keep anyone who wants to disrupt that off their backs, and why shouldn’t they?”

He added: “It is imperative that rather than a lack of policing on the ground that we have adequate policing and that is what I think has been missing, particularly in many more rural parts of Northern Ireland, and that needs to be addressed .” “.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has been contacted for comment.

“A little shocking”

At the crime scene: Gráinne Connolly, BBC News NI

Dundarave Park, where a man was nailed to a fence over the weekend, is clearly a residential area, with a playground just around the corner from where the attack took place.

The fence located at the rear of a house in the development remains unattached and a vehicle burned out in a nearby parking lot remains near the scene.

The nearby parking lot features RVs and a few tour buses that carry tourists on day trips to the Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills Distillery.

image description, Keiren, from Liverpool, said the incident was ‘shocking’

Keiren, from Liverpool, traveled to the north coast with his family in motorhomes.

He said they came to know about the incident only when they reached the village.

“It’s a little bit shocking,” he said.

Asked if it would have stopped them coming to the village, he replied: “It may have happened in the town center – it’s rare for something like that to happen.”

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the man suffered potentially life-changing but not life-threatening injuries.

Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton told BBC News NI it was a “truly shocking incident with a level of, almost ultraviolence”.

video caption, Kieran McEvoy described Bushmills attack as a ‘dark incident’

Kieran McEvoy, a tour guide from the Republic of Ireland, said none of the tourists he accompanied along the north coast had heard of the attack.

“No one has told me anything or seems to know about it, and I haven’t mentioned it,” he said.

“I’m trying to paint Ireland in a positive light and this is a dark incident.”

“We don’t hear about it as much anymore, so it didn’t occur to me to talk about it.”

‘Really worried’

In the Northern Ireland Assembly on Tuesday, Alliance MLA Sian Mulholland said there was “no justification for this type of behavior in 2024”.

“We are 26 years after the Good Friday Agreement, enough is enough and that is what the community is saying.”

She said she had been in contact with parents in the village who were “very concerned”.

“How do they tell their kids what’s in the news and why their city is in the news?

“How do they stop the conversations that will undoubtedly happen on the playground?”

DUP MP Paul Frew also told the meeting it was a “sinister attack of savage violence and brutality carried out against a person who, like any other member of the public, has the right to be free from the threat and repercussions to live from violence.”

“This criminal behavior must be condemned universally and unequivocally.”

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